Embrace Clichés

New Year, New You!

The saying comes around every year without fail.  And tomorrow it will begin in ernest!  Right on que!  I have been in the fitness game for quite a while now, and truthfully I have always hated that saying.  I had trouble accepting the notion that everything that happened in the previous year could be washed away by a simple ticking down of the clock to the chant of "5, 4, 3, 2, 1...". 

It couldn't be that simple, right?

"People have to know the truth!" I thought.  

They need to know what is really in store for them; and they need ME to give them the tips to get thru the fog of this new journey! Instead of just working with the idea that: "This year is YOUR year!" or "This time, it's different.", I would tell people to not be idealistic, but instead to be REALISTIC.  I would make sure they came down from the clouds; from their hopes and dreams, to the harshness of the ground.  I wanted to make them see the truth of their journey.

But why?  What's wrong with trying to be idealistic about trying to make yourself better.  Trying to make the world better.  Wanting to be different than what you are?  Why was I always the voice of sobering reality that rained on everyone's parade and tried to snatch hope away from those who dared to have it?  Year in and year out, it was the same song and dance.

But this year...  This year, I'm taking a different approach.

New Year, New You!  

Cliches exist because they best sum up the whole of our emotions, dreams, feelings, actions, and ideas of the world as we know it.  In one simple saying, one simple action, we can sum up the best of what we want to be and want do with our lives.  They are to be embraced, not shunned.  To be practiced, not resented.

Sometimes people go against the grain for the simple reason of what it is: SIMPLE.  Going with the flow seems too easy or too conforming.  It is almost as if there is no struggle there can be no victory.  Without having to overcome something, we don't want the reward.  

Well all that stops in 2017.

From here on in, we keep it SIMPLE.

In 2017, you will become the best version of YOU possible.  You will become wiser.  You will become stronger.  You will become smarter.  You will become kinder.  You will become leaner.  You will become faster.  You will become BETTER.

You will become these things because you believe that you will.  The only person that has any opinion on the matter is YOU.  All of these things are within your power to control.  What someone else thinks about them is irrelevant.  You are the hero of your own story, and the book is being written every day you get out of bed and go forward.    

Failure is not an option.  Quitting cannot be considered.  The hero of any story is not free from challenges or disappointments, but wins the day in the end.

In 2017, seek those that think like you.  That behave like you.  That share the same vision you have for your life.  You are the driver of your life, but it never hurts to have a friend or two by your side.

All people thrive with inspiration and motivation.  When you have those, you can transfer that into perspiration.  Find environments that challenges you physically and intellectually.  Places that make you comfortable emotionally, and provide you with the proper amount of attention to keep you persuing the NEW YOU well beyond reading this.  

Well beyond January.  

Beyond 2017.  

Being a NEW YOU is about continuing to learn.  Doing more.  Asking more.  Wanting more.

Here's to a wonderful, productive, and prosperous 2017!